bearings (the lion, the three-lobed mount, and the star), which in some 

 form or other are introduced on several of the fountains, &c. 



When it is considered that the various works about this villa must 

 have extended over a period of fifty years or more, it is impossible to 

 praise too highly the spirit which animated the successive artists who 

 carried them out. So entirely in harmony are these works, that they almost 

 give the impression that the whole villa was the conception of one mind. 



The ground on which the garden is laid out falls with a gentle slope 

 and is cut into a series of four or five terraces. The water, brought from 

 a distance in an aqueduct, enters the villa at the topmost level, and, 

 working its way downwards, passes through the various fountains in suc- 

 cession ; thus giving the maximum effect. 



The two casini are placed at the opposite ends of the first terrace 

 from which they are entered, the ground floor being occupied by a 

 loggia of three arches which opens on to the parterre. This flower garden 

 is about eighty yards square and is laid out with box-bordered beds, some 

 of simple geometrical design, others of more complex scroll-work, and 

 many of these are filled with all sorts of old-fashioned sweet-smelling 

 flowers of the kind endeared to us by the memories of childhood. The 

 whole centre of the garden is taken up with perhaps the most beautiful 

 fountain in Italy. This consists of a square cistern or peschiera raised above 

 the garden level and having in its centre an island-fountain in two tiers 

 with balustrades, one above the other. Access to the island is gained by 

 means of four causeways which are also protected by balustrades. As a 

 centre-piece, and above all, stand four graceful nude figures which hold 

 aloft the mount and star of the Montalto family. In addition to the 

 great central jet, water flows from the points of the star and from various 

 masks, keeping the fountain in a state of delicious moisture and giving 

 the centre-piece the look of polished bronze. In the outer basin 

 float four stone barchette, similar to those at the Villa Aldobrandini, 

 and the fountain is further embellished with innumerable fountain 

 masks, pine-cone finials, obelisks, and tall fluted vases which at one time 

 also were fountains. 



The surrounding garden is pleasantly broken by vases containing 

 lemon-trees hedged about with square cut box, breast high, free-growing 



7Z ^ 



